Album Review – Mack Geiger’s “Dying In This House”

Neotraditional Country (#510.8) on the Country DDS.

Now nearly half a decade into this new neotraditionalist 2.0 wave that has helped completely revolutionize and countrifiy popular country music in a more twangy and traditional direction, the fair concern brought up by both trendy bandwagoners and long-time traditionalists is how sustainable this all is. Sure, Zach Top shot up the depth charts like a rocket, and even placed him near the top of of the heap for a while.

The problem is that you can only rewrite Brooks & Dunn and Alan Jackson songs so many times before the veneer begins to wear thin, and expose the shallowness of much of the songwriting that relies more on nostalgia for resonance instead of actual depth. And despite Zach Top’s surprising popularity, who and how many others are coming up behind him in the ranks, not just with a similar sound, but with similar widespread appeal and success?

Enter Australian Mack Geiger, who despite still feeling like a unfamiliar name to some, is finding similar traction and appeal as Zach Top was when he first emerged on the scene. More importantly though, Mack Geiger has songs that feel like something more than just ’90s country rehashes. If there’s anyone out there who might be able to buttress up what Zach Top and other neotraditionalists have been doing, it’s this dude from Down Under.

Mack Geiger grew up in Mount Larcom, Central Queensland, listening to ’90s country and working on ranches—or as the Aussies call them, cattle stations. Earlier this year in mid May he released a 6-song EP called Walk a Straight Line that received a very strong 8.5 review here at Saving Country Music. As major labels often annoyingly do (Mack’s singed to RECORDS, a division of Sony), they’ve now taken five of those six songs, and combined them with seven new ones, and compiled them into what’s officially Mack Geiger’s debut album, Dying In This House.

The new album expands the strong neotraditionalist experience that Mack Geiger is able to evoke, and gives it more body and depth beyond the fleeting EP moment, even if it somewhat dilutes it as well. One of the best attributes to Mack’s music is the solo written tracks that have become his signature. The slow and heartbreaking “String By” has been his viral success. The moody “Mess of Blues” is songcraft at its best. “Walk A Straight Line” is a super fun song to listen to, even if it’s all about strong devotion. And the fact that all of these tracks were written by Mack alone makes you love them even more.

Dying in this House starts off with a couple of songs written by three people, and none of which are named Mack Geiger. “His & Hers” and “How Crazy Is That” certainly have that hot ’90s country sound to them, and that styling to the lyricism. Wyatt McCubbin and Rob Snyder who contribute to “His & Hers” are solid composers. But this is the kind of refried country stuff that is placing the whole neotraditionalist resurgence in trouble, while it’s not something radio is likely to pick up on either.

Meanwhile, the title track written by Geiger alone is where you get that brilliant exploration of the contours of his voice, along with that heartbreaking story. “Just Called To Let You Know” is significantly more upbeat, even if it’s just as heartbreaking. Mack did write it with a couple others, but you can consider it his stab at Zach Top’s “I Never Lie,” using sarcasm to get its point across.

The one song that didn’t make it over from the EP was called “Campdraft Queen,” and you do get the sense that there is an effort to Americanize the listening experience of this Aussie. Both a couple more solo writes in “Nothing Like Grandma” and “Jesus & Jones” definitely help to personalize the record to Mack, even if the latter is a song idea that feels like it’s been done many times before.

And no matter the specific themes of the songs, everything here sounds so great, and reverent to the neotraditionalist period it looks to call to mind, in large part because the great Keith Stegall is the one steering the production.

If the whole ’90s kick is going to extend beyond the craze cycle and find a sustainable place in the modern country music diet, it’s going to take singers, performers, and songwriters like Mack Geiger who can keep the momentum going by creating more sustainable songs that speak to something deeper, and don’t just rely on Brent Mason licks and “neon” references to lean on retro appeal.

Dying in this House does some of that nostalgia mining for sure. But it also looks to present songs with themes that are more universal and timeless, matched with a voice blessed for country music that no single continent or era in country music can hold as its own.

8.3/10

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Stream/Download Dying in This House